This Is How You Have to Ship Bugatti's $3M Supercar

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This Is How You Have to Ship Bugatti's $3M Supercar

Spencer Berke/Symbolic Motors San Diego

When you drop $3 million on a special-edition Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse, you want everything to be perfect. That's why, before it leaves the factory, Bugatti wraps the car more carefully than royal nurses swaddle the future King George.

This Vitesse, complete with a custom (and questionable) paint job, was delivered to an unnamed buyer at Symbolic Motor Car Company in San Diego. Spencer Berke, an employee at the dealership, photographed the whole unloading process, which took more than two hours from start to finish.

Nearly the entire car is carefully wrapped for protection against scratches, with holes left open for ventilation at the front and exhaust at the rear, and a more translucent covering over the windshield. Only the driver's door is left uncovered, so the car can be driven on and off a truck during shipping. Each spoke on the rims is individually wrapped with cloth and zip ties. A special mount to store the car's removable hard top in a garage is included in a separate box. The cars, built in Molsheim, in eastern France, are generally shipped by boat, but impatient customers can have them air mailed for an extra fee.

With 1,200 horsepower, a top-speed of 255 mph, and a 0-60 time of less than 2.6 seconds, the Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse is fantastic machine, and Bugatti and its dealers do everything they can to keep it that way en route from the factory to the owner's garage.

Once it's unwrapped, the dealership spends up to 12 hours inspecting every detail, down to the finish, battery, fluids, and wiring. "If you're going to ship a $3 million car, you want to make sure that it arrives intact and in a presentable condition," says Rick Ahumada, sales manager at Symbolic. "Every car is special ordered to the client's requests and tastes. It's what you would expect of a $3 million car."